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crimsonheadGCN · Jan 2, 2012

http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/the-best-pc-games-of-2012/

We’ve been spoilt for amazing PC games this year, but it’s only going to get better in 2012. We’ve already brought you previews of Planetside 2, Mass Effect 3, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Guild Wars 2, Dishonored, Hitman Absolution, Diablo 3 and Bioshock Infinite, but now we’ve compiled a list of every game out this year, for your reading pleasure. By the end of this feature, you should have an idea of just how incredible 2012 is going to be.

Check inside. The games of tomorrow are waiting for you.

Here's the most interesting titles from the list:

Grand Theft Auto V

Publisher: Rockstar
Release: TBA 2012

Being a numbered GTA title is a big deal. We know GTA V is set in Los Santos, Rockstar’s take on Los Angeles, and that it may have multiple protagonists. What we don’t know is whether it’s a continuation of GTA IV or a return to the pop culture of Vice City and San Andreas. The golden hues and gloss of the trailer suggests the latter, but, hey: that could just be California.

Where GTA V does seem to offer something new is in the promise of expansive outdoor environments. With the series traditionally tied to urban areas, the possibility of a little more freedom is intriguing, as is the suggestion that the main character’s hobbies include hiking. That said, Rockstar would do well to focus on fundamentals: bringing GTA’s combat up to scratch, allowing us to interact with the environment more meaningful ways, and moving from the one-employer-at-a-time structure.

Cross of the Dutchman

Publisher: Triangle Studios
Release: 2012

An action-adventure in the mould of Fable 3 from indie studio Triangle, this game places you in the enormous shoes of legendary Dutch warrior-pirate Pier Gerlofs Donia. You’ll liberate Frisia and do sidequests in a charming cartoon take on Western Europe. Grutte Pier was seven feet tall and could decapitate several people with a single blow, apparently.

Spec Ops: The Line

Publisher: 2k Games
Release: 2012

A third-person cover shooter set in the sand-blasted remains of Dubai, this promises tough choices in an uncompromising narrative. The banner feature is ‘Dynamic Sand’, accurately-modelled silicates that can form avalanches to crush friend and foe alike. 2K remind us that ‘sand has no loyalty’, flagrantly disregarding the Cave of Wonders from Aladdin.

Solaris Assault Tech

Publisher: Studio Inektek
Release: 2012

An arena-based mech combat game based on the Unreal 3 engine, and being developed with BattleTech founder Jordan Weismen. Long live giant stompy robot games. We need more.

Super Monday Night Combat

Publisher: 2012
Release: Uberent

The DOTA-inspired arena thirdperson shooter returns with three new classes – revolver-toting Gunslinger, robot-herding Combatgirl and groundpounding Veteran. New maps and increased customisation round out the package – and it’s free to play, too. It’s certainly one to watch if you like your DOTA with a side of TF2-style cartoon charm.

MechWarrior Online

Publisher: Infinite
Release: 2012

Infinite Games’ MechWarrior series reboot boasts customisable mechs, a detailed stat-tracking system, and a story that evolves based on the results of your actions. Who says there’s no such thing as a free hundredfoot walking tank?

Carmageddon Reincarnation

Publisher: Stainless Games
Release: 2012

1997’s Carmageddon introduced an anarchic, fruity approach to the racing genre that remains unmatched. Stainless Games have retained the rights and are updating the game as Carmageddon: Reincarnation. Without a publisher behind it, will Reincarnation get the attention and love it deserves?

Catherine

Publisher: Atlus
Release: Christmas

Catherine is an intriguing adult psychological thriller in which the woman prances around in a variety of frilly but ultimately impractical underwear. We want this to appear on the PC so badly, and informed rumour has it that it’s going to do just that.

Phantasy Star Online 2

Publisher: Sega
Release: 2012

Currently confirmed for Japan only, the sequel to Sega’s 2000 action MMO features new boss battles and a revamped combo system. The original game introduced a number of concepts – like hub areas with combat instances branching off them – that have since become part of the fabric of the MMO. Who knows – maybe the sequel will be just as forward-thinking.

Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online

Publisher: Vigil Games
Release: 2012

Last year’s E3 trailer confirms that while there is only war, ‘war’ can be broadly interpreted to include giant stompy Titan robots, motorcycles, and angry-looking shooty men. Good news!

King’s Bounty: Warriors of the North

Publisher: 1C
Release: Summer

The ridiculously enjoyable and completely absurd RPG gets a new episode in Warriors of the North. There’s, a new hero – called Olaf – and ‘gorgeous Valkyries’ as new companions. Wub at first sight.

Counter Strike: Global Offensive

Publisher: Valve
Release: 2012

What started as a port of CS: Source for consoles has become a wholesale revamp for the great-grandfather of the modern military shooter. Billed as a ‘bestof’ compilation of CS 1.6 and Source, Global Offensive is expected to boast detailed matchmaking to lower the barrier to entry for new players. Time to brush up on your bunnyhopping

DOTA 2

Publisher: Valve
Release: 2012

Valve are in a strange position with Dota 2. As the straight sequel to the Warcraft III mod that invented a genre, it’s The Man: the conservative stalwart for its more experimental cousins to set themselves against. It’s not an accident that Valve revealed the game with a million-dollar International Tournament at GamesCom: this is a competitive game to its core.

This means the same creep-farming, last-hitting action RTS mechanics that have undergone constant refinement since 2003. Don’t expect upheavals like Blizzard DOTA’s mounts, just a relentlessly tested and veteran-approved take on a classic.

Valve are looking to address rage-quitting by teaching players when and how to turn a gank into an epic comeback, and spectator tools are designed to make it easier than ever to watch and learn. If you take your ancient-defending seriously, this is the place to start.

More titles at the link.

ThoseDeafMutes · Jan 2, 2012

Xenonauts

iNvid02 · Jan 2, 2012

i hope GTA V ditches gwfl and is playable, IV was sort of horrible

Blackface · Jan 2, 2012

Planetside 2

Guild Wars 2 will be massive.

Orayn · Jan 2, 2012

Whoa, hadn't heard of Solaris Assault Tech until just now. Two BattleTech games in 2012? The more the merrier!

Also looking forward to World of Warplanes.

Kalnos · Jan 2, 2012

Guild Wars 2, Diablo 3, Torchlight 2? My wallet weeps.

Blizzard · Jan 2, 2012

Dutch warrior pirates with cartoon graphics? That definitely sounds unique.

And yay more King's Bounty!

Foliorum Viridum · Jan 2, 2012

Please let GTA V make PC. Please let GTA V make PC.

IV ran sooo bad on consoles. I just want to have it day 1 on Steam. PLEASEEEEEEEEEEE.

crimsonheadGCN · Jan 2, 2012

If any titles are misssing from the list then that means they'll be doing a preview of it in the coming days.

Feep · Jan 2, 2012

Will double-dip on Catherine.

Lasthope106 · Jan 2, 2012

Give me Torchlight II and you can keep the rest.

Actually, just give me HL3!

Deadbeat · Jan 2, 2012

iNvidious01 said:
i hope GTA V ditches gwfl and is playable, IV was sort of horrible

First it has to come to the platform. If RDR aint coming then why do you expect GTA 5? Out of good will?

crimsonheadGCN · Jan 2, 2012

Well, GTA V was listed on an Australian retail store's database for the PC prior to the trailer, so it is most likely coming!

Foliorum Viridum · Jan 2, 2012

crimsonheadGCN said:
Well, GTA V was listed on an Australian retail store's database for the PC prior to the trailer, so it is most likely coming!

After them not porting RDR I'm not going to believe it until I see it

GTA IV is so popular on PC they must be doing it, though. Surely!

Lulubop · Jan 2, 2012

When does Alan Wake come out?

But yea, looks like a good year. Guild Wars 2 is my most anticipated game ever.

djplaeskool · Jan 2, 2012

PSO2
My soul, I relenquish unto thee.

iNvid02 · Jan 2, 2012

Deadbeat said:
First it has to come to the platform. If RDR aint coming then why do you expect GTA 5? Out of good will?

every other gta has been on PC, i doubt they'd stop now.

i dont know why they did that with rdr, but im hoping it was a one off

man that game would have looked insane on pc

Data West · Jan 2, 2012

Foliorum Viridum said:
After them not porting RDR I'm not going to believe it until I see it

GTA IV is so popular on PC they must be doing it, though. Surely!

RDR was also a different team.

Guri · Jan 2, 2012

Quantum Conundrum needs more buzz.

crimsonheadGCN · Jan 2, 2012

Lulubop said:
When does Alan Wake come out?

But yea, looks like a good year. Guild Wars 2 is my most anticipated game ever.

Within the next 3 months I believe.

zoner said:
RDR was also a different team.

The code for the game was also said to be a mess. It would not have been worth the time to port it from what's been said.

Somnia · Jan 2, 2012

Lulubop said:
When does Alan Wake come out?

But yea, looks like a good year. Guild Wars 2 is my most anticipated game ever.

1st quarter is all we know.

Foliorum Viridum · Jan 2, 2012

zoner said:
RDR was also a different team.

Yeah, but it's still weird it didn't get ported. I'm sure that studio were capable of it too.

I have heard certain rumours about it happening then being canned for different reasons, though.

Zzoram · Jan 2, 2012

Is Diablo 3 not on this list? If it is, why isn't it in the OP? It seems obvious that it'll be the biggest 2012 PC release in terms of sales.

Derrick01 · Jan 2, 2012

I'm looking forward to where The Old Republic will go. There are still quite a few gameplay things that need to be patched in, and I want to see what Bioware will add on their own in terms of content and maybe putting in more diverse missions.

For other games though I'm looking forward to Dishonored, Bioshock, and GTA 5. It's kind of an interesting year so far because there's not much info on what's coming yet.

VALIS · Jan 2, 2012

So few RTSes.

Elginer · Jan 2, 2012

Alan Wake (double dipping from Xbox version)
Torchlight 2
Guild Wars 2
Diablo III (will also pick up Xbox version if announced)

crimsonheadGCN · Jan 2, 2012

Zzoram said:
Is Diablo 3 not on this list? If it is, why isn't it in the OP? It seems obvious that it'll be the biggest 2012 PC release in terms of sales.

There was already a preview of it, so they didn't include it in the list. They are basically just listing titles that they haven't played or gotten enough information on to do a full preview. At least that's what it seems.

shintoki · Jan 2, 2012

Metal Gear Rising, Cathrine, Devil May Cry 3? Maybe they shouldn't be basing this on rumors and idiocy. I like the idea but a lot of these "Oh rumor to be on PC" are annoying as fuck.

inky · Jan 2, 2012

VALIS said:
So few RTSes.

Don't worry, Bioware's got you covered

pieatorium · Jan 2, 2012

Yeah theres a list at the top of the page saying we've already covered these so heres a list of the rest

Planetside 2
Mass Effect 3
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
Guild Wars 2
Dishonored
Hitman Absolution
Diablo 3

The ones that they have already previewed.

crimsonheadGCN · Jan 2, 2012

inky said:
Don't worry, Bioware's got you covered

2013 though.

fizzelopeguss · Jan 2, 2012

All i need.

MadOdorMachine · Jan 2, 2012

Tomb Raider
Ridge Racer: Unbounded
Darksiders 2

Metal Gear Rising would be nice in 1080p but I think a PC version is about as likely as a Wii U version. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed though.

inky · Jan 2, 2012

crimsonheadGCN said:
2013 though.

Forgot about that.

crimsonheadGCN · Jan 2, 2012

MadOdorMachine said:
Tomb Raider
Ridge Racer: Unbounded
Darksiders 2

Metal Gear Rising would be nice in 1080p but I think a PC version is about as likely as a Wii U version. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed though.

Well, MGR was originally announced for PC but it seems to have been quietly cancelled. Kojima's next game will come to PC though.

Snuggles · Jan 2, 2012

I'm gonna cry if GTAV doesn't get a PC port. I mean, it should happen, but it's Rockstar...you never know. It would tragic to see it restricted to the consoles.

Anyways, I don't buy the rumor, but I'd totally buy Catherine on PC. I played it on PS3 and it's worth adding to my library.

mannerbot · Jan 2, 2012

Didn't pick up Catherine since I want everything on PC now, so this is good news.

Tain · Jan 2, 2012

Catherine on PC would be wonderful. I'd probably pick it up.

PSO2 is what I'm in full hype mode for, though.

dani_dc · Jan 2, 2012

Catherine?
That would be pretty surprising, and pretty encouraging for future Atlus titles too.

Already have the game on PS3 but would double-dip on a PC version.

Vaporak · Jan 2, 2012

I'm mostly an RPG and Strategy gamer so this list looks pretty terrible to me. >.>
But at least SC2: Heart of the Swarm has to come out this year...right?

Decado · Jan 2, 2012

WTF? Mechwarrior Online? It won't have a full single player campaign focus like the previous games? 2012 ruined

Despite the clusterfuck that was Elemental, Elemental: Fallen Enchantress is my most anticipated PC game of 2012. Here's hoping they get it right this time.

pieatorium · Jan 2, 2012

Vaporak said:
I'm mostly an RPG and Strategy gamer so this list looks pretty terrible to me. >.>
But at least SC2: Heart of the Swarm has to come out this year...right?

yes probably mid year is my guess, D2 early SC2 mid WoW xpac late,

speedpop · Jan 2, 2012

If Catherine hits maybe it is a sign of Atlus throwing more considerable weight to publishing PC games in American markets.

â Narayan · Jan 2, 2012

Catherine?

PC?

I will buy it.

Vanillalite · Jan 2, 2012

I hope Catherine hits steam and does well. The only thing Steam lacks is a good presence from Japanese publishers putting their games on the PC out in the west.

A lot of F2P stuff next year like DOTA2 and Firefall, and we have the big heavy hitters like SC2 and Diablo III coming as well.

I wonder what we'll get from Valve this year though.

Takao · Jan 2, 2012

I wouldn't be surprised, Spake Drake of CarpeFulgar basically hinted someone was going to be giving PC support in the niche game realm. We have NISA commissioning a PC/360 port of that Gladiator Vs. game, and Atlus USA with Catherine I suppose. I expected XSEED and Falcom to work something out, but I guess that wasn't in the cards.

Hasemo · Jan 2, 2012

Dark Millennium is supposed to be released this year? I thought it was bound for 2013.

TGMIII · Jan 2, 2012

Reading the comments below each game and a lot of them just have "we think this is coming but we don't actually know", most don't even acknowledge the possibility of a PC version.

Huge pinch of salt here but I hope Catherine, Lollipop Chainsaw and Anarchy Reigns make their way over.

Tain · Jan 2, 2012

Takao said:
I wouldn't be surprised, Spake Drake of CarpeFulgar basically hinted someone was going to be giving PC support in the niche game realm. We have NISA commissioning a PC/360 port of that Gladiator Vs. game, and Atlus USA with Catherine I suppose. I expected XSEED and Falcom to work something out, but I guess that wasn't in the cards.

I googled that Gladiator Vs. game, and whoa. I like Acquire, so I wonder how I've never heard of the series. A PC port, too? Cool.

awwyeargurrl said:
Huge pinch of salt here but I hope Catherine, Lollipop Chainsaw and Anarchy Reigns make their way over.

Anarchy Reigns would be a huge deal for me. Then again, a lot of the best Japanese stuff would.

Madrical · Jan 2, 2012

pieatorium said:
yes probably mid year is my guess, D2 early SC2 mid WoW xpac late,

That's crazy, but I still think they'll only release 2 of the 3.. either D3 and HOTS or D3 and MoP. If SWTOR is successful, they might delay the expansion for 6 months or so to really shove a lot of content in there and make players come back.

I just find it so odd that they would make their release schedule that so they release 3 major titles in the one year. But I suppose if they space them out like you said, it's not that big of a deal.

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